There Were Shepherds....

 One of the most endearing musical traditions of the Italian Baroque era was the tradition of writing an instrumental piece of a special type called a "pastorale."  The name refers to a gentle piece in a moderate tempo, written in 6/8, 9/8, or 12/8 time, which has a peaceful, open-air feel to it.  The character is enhanced by the simple chordal texture of the music, often with parallel melodies a third apart, and by the presence of a consistent drone bass rather like the drone of a bagpipe.

The tradition arose (and continues today) in the south of Italy, with the music being played on a zampogna (bagpipe) and piffero (reed pipe).  It's worth remembering in this context that the bagpipe was originally found in the Mediterranean world, and later travelled north over the Alps on its way to Scotland.

The association of the pastorale with Christmas is owing entirely to the verse in St. Luke's Gospel which states, "There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night."  And I think we all know what happens in the story after that.  

Undoubtedly the most-often heard example is the so-called "Pifa" (the name plainly derived from piffero) which is played immediately before the scene with the shepherds in Handel's Messiah.  

But there are others, from such pens as Corelli and Torelli (not, of course, to be confused with Torelli and Corelli -- precise diction is essential on such points).  Corelli's Christmas Concerto, Op. 6 No. 8, which was subtitled "Written for the night of Christmas," provides a beautiful example.  It's cast in an unusual form of six movements, ending with the gentle Pastorale.

Although resembling these other examples at first glance, the sinfonia which J. S. Bach wrote to open Part II of his Christmas Oratorio is a different kind of piece altogether, using the pastorale's lilting 6/8 time as the basis for a display of complex polyphony. 

Several examples of the pastorale occur in a delightful recording which I recently acquired, featuring Canada's renowned Baroque orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, under the direction of Bernard Labadie.  The disc is entitled Simphonies des noëls.  In this beautiful anthology you find a fusion of Italian and French baroque traditions in music for strings.

Opening with music from the French side, the programme begins with the three-movement Simphonies des noëls by Michel-Richard de Lalande, and nine of the Noëls pour les instruments by Marc-Antoine Charpentier.  I've written several times about other French works using these bewitching folk melodies, and the music presented here is just as rewarding as the earlier examples I've reviewed.  

From the Italian side, you then get the Christmas Concertos of Corelli, Torelli, and Sammartini, each of which includes a delightful Pastorale.  Torelli's example is a bit different from the others, taking on a more upbeat tempo.  In this way, the composer produces a lively dance-like atmosphere, although the parallel thirds and the drone bass are still present.

In addition, from Germany, comes the much rarer Concerto pastorale in F Major by Johann Christoph Pez.  In this seven-movement work, the pastorale comes first and is in a slower tempo than the other examples cited.  

Few of these works will be at all well known to a wider musical public.  I myself was only familiar with the Corelli and with the Charpentier noëls.  The music is arranged so that the record ends with the familiar and soothing strains of the Pastorale which closes Corelli's concerto.

Even if this music doesn't carry any overt Christmas associations in today's world, this glowing record, with its skilled players captured in a warm acoustic, will give pleasure at any time of the year.

Simphonies des noëls was originally recorded and released by Dorian Recordings, and has been re-released under licence in 2016 by the Quebec label ATMA Classique.